eSmart Tax

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50 eSmart Tax Consumer Reviews and Complaints

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Amy of Pound, WI
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Feb. 19, 2019

I chose eSmart Free File because it was listed on the IRS website. At first it was great. Very easy to use. However, I started my tax return on Jan 29th and I STILL have not been able to efile my state taxes. I was able to file my Federal return right away, but when trying to file my state, I get a "rejected" error. The error states

"This state is currently turned off for electronic filing. This may be because the state is not yet approved for e-file. You may re-open the return and transmit just the Federal return now then e-file the state return at a later date, once e-file has been activated for the state."

I've chatted online with customer service multiple times, and always get the same response... "we don't know when it will be turned on." Wisconsin has been accepting returns electronically since 1/29. It is not Wisconsin. It is this software. It is now 2/19... 3 weeks after I submitted my federal taxes and I am still not able to efile state. Not only is this a GIANT inconvenience, but it's making me very nervous about getting audited due to faulty software. This company should NOT be listed as a reputable place to do your taxes online! They are VERY SKETCHY. I wish I would've stuck with TAXACT!

As a US citizen living in Canada for the last 9 years, I've filed my U.S. tax return via paper. This year I thought I would try e-filing for the first time since moving away. I chose this eSmart Tax site because it was one that was recommended by IRS for free file. The process of filling in all my information was fine. But when I submitted my return via e-file, I received a "rejected" status. When I inquired further, the rejected message said my return had been randomly selected for security verification and to contact customer support. I hopped onto the online chat and was given instructions to email my driver's license to an email address (which seemed legitimate) and that I'd receive an email immediately. So I fired a picture of my license off to the email...

I tried to log on to eSmart Tax again to use the online chat feature again, but now I get a message that my login and password are invalid. I have never felt as uncomfortable with a website as I have with this. They have my personal information and it's as if they have locked me out. Even if they fix this, I won't use this site again. I'm far from impressed. I would not recommend them. Shady experience makes me wonder if this is a scam.

I filed my tax return as I always do and received an error message email from eSmart Tax stating they had a coding issue and were correcting it on their end and no action was required on my part. I received this email again within a week so I entered into the chat and asked why. They stated my return was in Virginia's hands which was not the truth. It hadn't been submitted yet due to a software update which still doesn't make sense. I will not be using them again. HORRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE.

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Charles of Woodland, CA
Verified Reviewer

Original review: April 17, 2018

We used eSmart in the past, but this year they failed so bad. After filing our returns were rejected saying "Your electronic signature was rejected because the prior year Adjusted Gross Income does not match IRS records. Please verify that the Prior Year AGI entered is correct." We reviewed our Fed & State AGI was correct, as proved from last year's returns from eSmart. Via Chat, eSmart agreed and said to resubmit and they would flag our account as "bypass" so it would go to IRS. We asked chatter to explain why this is happening and how does bypass work, but she ignored our question and closed our session. Never asked if we had more questions, just, "Thank you, bye." So we followed her advice and resubmitted again, but again it rejected.

We then tried to open Chat again, and got message "Chat not available, please email", so we emailed but no response. We could never get back into a chat session, so it was like our account was flagged. There is no phone #, only email or contact a local office, so we did, and offices say they don't support eSmart, but we can come in and file with them, but have to pay again. Really?! ESmart is so bad, we're done with them.

I have been using esmart.com for tax preparation (Liberty Tax) for the past couple of years but something has changed within this tax preparation company so I will not be coming back next year. I always file my federal and state tax returns on opening day of IRS to prevent fraudulent returns which you are encouraged to do per social media. I have been waiting since Jan 29th of 2018 for eSmart to download the state of Michigan state tax preparation so I can efile it. I have never had this issue in the past and will not be returning next year. Customer Service (both per email and chat) blames the state for not providing them timely access to their download but I filed the state of Michigan on another tax preparation site (Eztax) for another family member who also used eSmart in previous years and had no issue there. That return was already accepted by the State of Michigan which means the delay is on eSmart (liberty tax) not the state of Michigan.

It is obvious that Liberty Tax who provides the service for Esmart.com wasn't ready for a service they advertised and most of all they are operating under false pretenses. After complaining day after day, I am constantly being told that states are being downloaded every day, so keep checking back to see if my state is ready yet for efile. Who has time for that! Once I complete my Federal, I don't want to check back every day for weeks to complete and efile my state return which means they have no idea when it will be ready on their tax preparation site which is a service they provide for and charge for.

This is outrageous! What bothers me the most is that I should have been informed before starting and paying for my Federal Efile that my State is not available and they have no idea when it will be ready which would have given me the choice to change to another tax preparation tax site because once you pay and efile for your Federal return you are locked into that online preparation site because you can't file your state without the Federal at other places. They have you locked in and most of they don't care. That is not acceptable and very alarming and BAD BUSINESS. It's been 14 days and counting that I have been waiting for a service that should have been provided with opening day of IRS.

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Kerri of Buford, GA
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Feb. 9, 2018

I like to file my taxes the first day they are available. I filed my federal taxes a week before they were to be accepted by the IRS per the email urging of eSmart Tax. But they weren’t ready for state return that early. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and assumed it would be ready when my state’s Department of Revenue was open to accept filings. That was NOT the case! Instead I got the constant run around from their customer service (online chat and Facebook messenger) saying “it’s coming”. I was told to check back a few times EACH DAY! Who has time for that? They didn’t even know when it would be ready, but kept saying it was coming. Here it is February 9th and it is just now available for filing. That is unacceptable and concerning that they couldn’t get their job done by the deadline expected. I will not use this “service” again.

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2 people found this review helpful

Laura of Oakland, CA
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Nov. 30, 2017

I realized one day that I should have already received my tax return, so I looked back at my filing status to see my return had been rejected, reason given that the prior year AGI was inaccurate. Firstly, I never noticed this because eSmart sent the email as a reply to their first confirmation email, without any obvious information. I double checked the return and re-sent it. Rejected again. Asked their customer support for help. They suggested entering 0, or saying I didn't file in the prior year. Tried both, both rejected. I requested a transcript in the mail from the IRS to make sure my number was right- it was.

I entered everything again, and this time my return took a couple months before it was rejected. It's now been several months and I am going to just start all over with another software I guess- I assumed this was a trustworthy service because I followed a link to it straight from the IRS's website. For what it's worth, customer service did reply quickly and kindly, but ultimately couldn't help me or resolve what the real issue is.

I used the eSmart Tax site filing in February. I went through the entire process and received a confirmation that my federal and state tax forms were submitted. When I didn't get my return in a reasonable time, I logged onto the site only to find out that my forms had been rejected because it said my previous year's AGI (which is required for e-filing) was wrong. I double checked my copy of my previous year's returns and the AGI matched what I put in the eSmart form. I then ordered the official IRS transcript for my previous year's tax filing to double check the AGI. When I received my last year's transcript, I saw that my AGI on the transcript was $4 different than my return records. I adjusted my last year's AGI on my eSmart forms. Again, I received a confirmation the forms were submitted.

Then eSmart said the forms were rejected again, saying my previous year's AGI was wrong. I double checked the AGI number in the eSmart form against the official IRS transcript. They were the same. I sent an email to eSmart asking what to do since they aren't accepting the AGI amount on the official IRS transcript. They didn't respond. I ended up filing a paper form (3 months after my original attempt to e-file). What a waste of time!

Filed my return with eSmart and they use JTH Financial to process electronic refunds. I entered my bank information correctly. Double checked with both eSmart and JTH Financial who both confirmed my information was correct. I called my bank and was informed the information was entered incorrectly therefore rejected. However neither company will address the issue or refund me for the inconvenience of receiving my refund late.

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3 people found this review helpful

Lori of Bellingham, WA

Original review: Feb. 9, 2017

A couple of days ago I started doing my taxes with eSmart Tax and I only logged out since I didn't know about the form 1099-R and since then when I try to log back in it says I have the wrong username and then it tells me that my password and email are incorrect, but I was able to log right back in the same night that when I first started my taxes. Also when I try to email them for support it comes right back from the postmaster as not a right email address. Now what!

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6 people found this review helpful

Sam of Franklin, TN
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Jan. 23, 2017

I had an all-around horrible experience using this software. It is absolutely riddled with bugs - elements on the page you can't interact with, but are required to continue. My filing was 'randomly selected for rejection for security validation' and the software will not let me upload the photos of my driver's license and mail as requested. I was logged out of my account, and when I attempted to log in again to start chatting with support for the 3rd time, it told me my password/username combo was incorrect. I'm 100% sure I had the correct username and password; however, I went to retrieve my password from them just in case. Then it said it did not recognize my username at all. I would advise you not to use this shoddy software.

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8 people found this review helpful

Ray of San Antonio, TX
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Jan. 9, 2017

The people were nice and extremely helpful. They walked me right through the program, and it was fast and easy. They also expanded the detail and direction in which my data was used and received. The refund experience was also good and I got back what they said I would. I thought the refund would be a long time but it was actually faster than I had been sent. Filing was not hard at all. I thought it was a real learning experience and I would do it again if I ever needed to.

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Sarah of Everett, WA
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Jan. 8, 2017

Have contacted them many times to no avail. Not happy with their service at all. Quite difficult to get ahold of them most of the time. Data is not accurate. It's a shame that they aren't reliable when they had a great concept. The refund takes so long it's annoying. A lot of people online have submitted their experience as well and it is entirely disappointing. Filing experience was not fun and I didn't like any of it. If this company listened to their customers well then they wouldn't be in such a rut.

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3 people found this review helpful

Johnny of Little Rock, AR
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Jan. 6, 2017

Customer service is easy and very nice and helpful with any questions I might have had. And very easy to talk to. No long holding period. The data security is very safe and reliable. Encrypted and hacker safe. So your information will not get lost or stolen. It's a simple system that works very well. The refund is all I was looking forward to. And was designed to be very easy to find out what your return was gonna be. And it made sure to get the most it can. I did not like the filing program at all. It seem to be bit of a task to file your taxes. But they claim it to be easy to use. Well for me it wasn't that easy to use. It took me a little while to finally figure it.

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Robert of Springville, IN
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Jan. 4, 2017

I didn't even have to use any troubleshooting function and I can tell you that the Customer service is ridiculously good. The instructions given and forms used were crystal clear. I felt like I knew what I was doing the entire time. I felt like steps were made to protect my personal information. I completely trust the data security of this project. I will use it again and recommend it and I wouldn't do that if there was any doubt that my identity would be stolen. My refund came back to me in the exact amount I had put in for and it was much more than I thought. This next year I plan to file much earlier than last year because this system was so easy and fast, I just want my money faster. I am not exactly a computer person and I have had many, compounding, issues with technology over the years, but even I was able to breeze through the forms. They put it in terms that even I could understand and it made me feel as if I were in control of the experience.

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3 people found this review helpful

Russell of Buffalo, NY
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Dec. 31, 2016

It is a great system that helps me to measure cost rates. I really like the interface and the number of options has to calculate tax rates, apart from the cost which is very cheap compared to other. It's very secure. Amazing experience, I say again.

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Rosa of Manassas, VA
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Dec. 30, 2016

I definitely recommend it as it meets the expectations and adapts to all needs. It is a basic and elemental tool for our activities. It is of great trust and enjoys high appreciation in the market which assists.

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Mari of Chevy Chase, MD
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Dec. 29, 2016

The few questions I had were outlined clearly or accessible via help assistance links on the site itself and easy to navigate it. The reason I selected them after careful research: epic in apparent that they gave charity, was cutting edge, top of the line and exactly what I was looking for my purposes. Associated fees, process, security and handling of sensitive financing data was top-notch, although the turnaround time was longer than expected. Filing with eSmart is just as simple as TurboTax but much more secure and easy to comprehend even with the myriad of changes and additional forms necessary for us this go round.

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2 people found this review helpful

Jose of Garden City, NY
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Dec. 28, 2016

I know of many services of this kind. I would like to know more and I am open to new expectations of service, but this is enough for me. I think I keep my data safe and well protected other things. The service provided me is very good. I recommend it to my friends and my co-workers.

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Tasha of Marietta, GA
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Dec. 17, 2016

Help explain step by step process to help you receive your maximum refund and every deduction available to you. Staff to work for customer service was friendly, easy to talk to, and really made my experience with the company pleasurable. To my knowledge my security and privacy was pretty secure. I had to provide adequate amount of identification so I'm satisfy no one else can file in my name. Their refund policy makes it to where I can get a portion of my payment back or file for free the following year. Filing was easy, company did most of the work to make sure I got my full refund. I received my refund in a timely manner so overall I was satisfied with my filing.

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Deon of Temple Hills, MD
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Dec. 16, 2016

The customer service experience was very helpful in terms of me being able to navigate the software properly and fill out all of the information correctly. The site is encrypted so there is a lot of data security. You don't have to worry about your information being stolen and used for identity theft. The refund experience was great. It took me less than a week to receive my refund. And I was able to receive my refund by direct deposit into my bank account. Filing was very fast and easy. It saved me time and money by not having to pay someone else to do what it allowed me to do Made Simple.

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Jacquelyn of Tulsa, OK
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Dec. 9, 2016

Customer service was friendly and helpful. It was easy to use and understand. I could enter information and go back and work with it when I was ready. Security seemed sufficient and I could understand it. I felt safe and secure in entering my data. I didn't think it would be easily hacked. I felt informed and confident in my use. Refund experience was fast and easy. It was quick and easily understood. I felt confident with the results. It was a pleasant experience that was helpful. The filing experience was easy to understand. I could comprehend and fill out questions with confidence. I knew what it was asking and knew the answers.

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Patty of Greensburg, PA
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Dec. 5, 2016

I've never had to use customer service as the software is very easy to use. I'm sure if I needed it, they would have been helpful as their software. Your information goes directly to the state and federal government. I always felt very safe with it. I had no reason to not trust the software program and looked it up first to make sure it had not been hacked prior to my use. The refund experience was extremely easy. I got my money so fast! When you do your taxes by paper, your refund tends to take longer. When you use the software program, you get your refund so quickly, you really will be happy you did e-file. Trust me when I say, you will be so happy you will switch all future taxes to e-filing!

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Karl of Rapid City, SD
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Dec. 4, 2016

Agents were very thorough and efficiently walked me through the process. I was very pleased with the results and have lower payments now. Security seemed to be satisfactory. I encountered no issues during the service period that would make me feel otherwise regarding the security. The refund process was unnecessarily complicated. I had to call 5 times to speak with 5 different people. The only reason I was refunded in the end was because I asked for a supervisor. Filing was fairly straightforward. It was set up in the same way as most other tax applications and I was able to do so through my mobile device.

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Angela of Waxahachie, TX
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Aug. 28, 2016

The customer service was great. Whenever I had a problem or concern they would answer in a timely manner. No matter what I needed, all I had to do was call and my concern would be dealt with. The data security is top notch in the business. They make sure that all your important information is safe and secure. I never have to worry about a data breach and my info getting stolen. My refund came faster than I expected. I finished my taxes and submitted them through the website. They said that my refund would be in my bank account in a couple of weeks by it came in just a little over a week. The filing experience was easy to understand and follow. They gave me simple examples to use and where I could find certain information. But overall, it was easy to understand.

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Jessica of Lawrence, MA
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Aug. 27, 2016

Customer service was decent. They did their jobs but were not very friendly. Somewhat helpful, but expected me to do most things on my own. The data security was sufficient. It was not the best available but overall I was satisfied. Could have been a little better though and more thorough. There were no problems with my refund experience. It was about the same wait as with any other service I've used and the refund was the same. The filing experience was fairly easy to understand and simple enough to use. It was similar to other services out there. I was able to complete the filing process quickly.

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Chloe of Greenville, SC
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Aug. 25, 2016

The customer service was okay. The only thing I would change is the amount of time it takes to get my refund and the percentage taken out by the company. They provided a secure service. I felt like my personal information and my identity were safe with them. The only thing I would change is they should make it easier for me to access my own information online. Their site isn't very user-friendly. I got a decent refund. But the percentage taken out by the company is a little high. I could have got a better rate if I had gone somewhere else. The filing experience overall was generally okay. I would use them again now that I know what to expect. I would also maybe recommend them to my family, friends, and coworkers.

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Steven of Lawrenceville, GA
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Aug. 22, 2016

I like this brand very much, I will recommend this to everyone with the same problems, and to everyone I know/have met in my life because this company is good. I will ask my friends to visit their Facebook. The filing experience is very good and I will go to their page and leave really good positive feedback on their website.

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Angela of Macungie, PA
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Aug. 20, 2016

They were very understanding and patient. Took the time to listen to you and really understand things and then help, making you feel understood the whole time. Haven't had any issues or feeling that things were compromised. I would recommend, and always felt my information was safe. Received a refund quickly. Much happier with this experience than any others I've used in the past. Although I don't think anything is ever quick enough. Easy to file and make sure everything was together and in on time. Very easy to use and happy with the way everything was handled.

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Faye of Sacramento, CA
Verified Reviewer

Original review: Aug. 19, 2016

Customer service were professional, friendly and knowledgeable. They were very helpful in making sure I understood the process and information pertaining to IRS processing. The data security I feel was good, I felt comfortable know my information was safe and protected in the hand of the tax audit representative. I was really impressed with the refund experience, they set the tone for when I could expect my money and it actually came before the expected date. The filing experience was easy and convenient. It was easy to electronically transfer my information, enter information and find out what my expected money was.

eSmart Tax expert review by Melissa Hincha-Ownby

eSmart Tax is the online version of Liberty Tax Service's popular in-person offerings. As part of Liberty Tax Service, eSmart Tax provides several guarantees to customers including satisfaction, accuracy, biggest refunds and a lock-in guarantee. The lock-in guarantee ensures that you pay the fee you agreed to when signing up for the service, regardless of what the price is when you file your return.

Free audit assistance:
CPA audit assistance is provided at no charge to customers that have used eSmart Tax to successfully file a federal and/or state return.

State-only option:
Taxpayers can choose to file only a state return using eSmart Tax’s software.

Melissa Hincha-Ownby is a freelance writer who finds joy in doing her taxes, testing new tax software programs and sharing her experiences with others.

eSmart Tax Company Information

Company Name:

eSmart Tax

Address:

1716 Corporate Landing Parkway

City:

Virginia Beach

State/Province:

VA

Postal Code:

23454

Country:

United States

Phone:

1-800-790-3863

Website:

www.esmarttax.com

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